M 

0 
0 

1 

0 
7 
8 

1 

0 
0 

H0ME3 

The  correct  arras  of  the 
state  of  New  York 


-  — — ' — — — '-■ • •- 

.      .     -    ,^ . 

Tin: 

C  O  R  R  E  C  T 

ARMS  : 

OF  THK 

sTATfe^QF  ISTEW 

toek:, 

AS  ESTABySHEl)  HV  LAW  SlXi'K 

MAllCK  lo,  li'S, 

A  ]([<;•,  ,iM,vi.  KSS  AV  READ  BEFORE  THE 

:  ALUAXV  i.v?Ti  irriv, 

nECEMDRft  2,  1879, 

BY 

It^NRY   A.    HOMES, 

ll;d., 

K.  STATB  BIB&A«r. 

1 

'                                     ■             ALBANY: 

;                           WEED,  PARSONS  AND  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 

1880. 

ARMS  OF  THE  STATE  OFNEWTORK 

fax:  simile 

of  the  Initial  T,  eni^raved  on 
AT^E>\"Tc)nK  MlTJTAHY  ('OMMISSTO^ 
iVoni  ( I  o  V.  ( I.  ( '  I  i  n  I  on  . 
of'.Iune  25,1778. 


THE 


CORRECT     ARMS 


STATE  OF  'N'EW  YOEK 


AS  ESTABLISHED  BY  LAW  SINCE  MARCH  16, 1778. 


A  HISTORICAL  ESSAY  READ  BEFORE  THE  ALBANY  INSTITUTE, 

DECEMBER  2,  1879, 


HENRY   A.    HOMES,    LL.D., 

OF  THE  STATE  UBRART. 


ALBANY: 

WEED,  PARSONS  AND  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 

1880. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witin  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/correctarmsofstaOOIiomeiala 


CONTENTS. 


Fags. 

Letter  op  T.  W.  Olcott,  Esq.,  to  the  President  op  the 

Albany  Institute v 

Prefatory  Note            vii 

Introductory  Remarks  on  State  Arms    -        -        -        .  9 

Laws  op  New  York  on  the  Arms         -        -        .        .  n 

Changes  in  the  Original  Arms 16 

Three  Specimens  of  the  Arms  before  1785         -        -  18 

I.  Military  Commission  OP  1778         -        -        -        -  19 

II.  Revolutionary  Flag  OP  1779    -        -        .        .  31 

III.  Painting  IN  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  N.  Y.  City,  1785  24 

Popular  Description  op  the  Arms  -  -  .  .  27 
Heraldic  Descriptions  op  the  Arms      -        -        -    20,  34,  26 

N.  Y.  Copper  Tokens  op  1786  and  1787       ...  29 

Significance  op  the  New  York  Arms      -        -        -        -  81 

Eagle  Crest  on  the  Arms 82 

Description  op  Changes  in  the  Arms      -        -        -        -  85 

New  York  Military  Department  Flags      ...  39 

The  Overturned  Royal  Crown 40 

The  Men  who  Devised  the  Arms 42 

The  Times  when  the  Arms  were  Devised       -        -        .  44 

Arms  op  other  States  op  the  Union    -        -        -        -  45 

Legislation  to  re- affirm  the  Old  Arms  op  the  State  -  47 


LETTER  OF  THOMAS  W.  OLCOTT,  ESQ 


Albany,  Ma/rch  1,  1880. 
Orlando  Meads,  Esq., 

President  of  the  Albany  Institute  : 

Dear  Sir:  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  offer  through 
you,  for  the  acceptance  of  the  Albany  Institute,  an  edi- 
tion of  Mr.  H.  A.  Homes'  study  of  the  facts  relative  to 
the  true  Arms  of  tlie  State  of  New  York,  which  he  read 
at  a  late  meeting,  and  of  which  your  association  has 
requested  a  copy  for  its  Transactions.  I  regard  the  sub- 
ject as  one  of  practical  importance,  and  I  believe  with 
the  author  of  the  essay,  that  the  expressive  symbolism 
delineated  upon  our  State  Arms,  is  worthy  of  a  scruti- 
nizing attention,  and  that  no  feature  of  it  should  be 
ignored  or  abandoned,  without  the  most  deliberate  and 
public  consideration.  The  theme  of  which  it  treats  is 
clearly  appropriate  to  the  researches  of  the  Institute, 
being  included  in  one  of  its  three  departments. 

I  have  hoped  that  by  securing  the  printing  of  an  edi- 
tion somewhat  larger  than  the  usual  one  for  the  series  of 
the  Transactions  of  the  Institute,  and  separate  from  it, 
that  a  wider  circulation  might  be  given  to  the  paper ; 
and  especially  that  as  the  volumes  are  only  issued  at  long 


vi  Lettek  of  Thomas  W.  Olcott,  Esq. 

intervals  of  time,  this  early  publication  mi^ht  be  more 
useful  through  the  action  of  the  Institute,  if  it  should 
be  disposed  to  take  any. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

THOMAS  W.  OLCOTT. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


The  exceedingly  well  executed  drawing  which  accom- 
panies this  paper,  is  a  perfect  fac  simile  of  the  Initial 
Letter  of  the  Military  Commission  of  1778,  engraved 
by  Mr.  A.  Tolle,  of  the  Lithographic  establishment  of 
Messrs.  Weed,  Parsons  &  Co.  It  has  been  engraved  and 
placed  there  not  as  a  model  for  close  imitation,  or  for  its 
positive  beauty,  but  on  account  of  its  historical  value  as 
a  witness  in  exact  form  of  what  was  the  original  device 
of  the  State  Arms ;  so  that  in  attempts  to  re-establish 
the  original  arms  complete,  with  ornamentation  con- 
formed to  the  most  cultivated  modern  taste,  all  those 
engaged  in  the  undertaking,  might  have  constant  recourse 
to  it. 

I  take  pleasure  in  being  able  to  state  that  the  Eev. 
John  H.  Frazer,  who  is  mentioned  on  page  32,  as  the 
possessor  of  the  original  of  the  Military  Commission 
of  June  25,  1778,  from  which  the  photograph  was 
taken,  has  considerately  and  kindly,  since  that  note  was 
written,  yielded  to  my  request,  and  allowed  it  to  be  de- 
posited in  the  State  Library,  and  to  become  the  property 
of  the  State.  It  is  now  exhibited  there  in  a  frame 
under  glass,  where  any  who  are  curious  to  examine  it, 
can  satisfy  themselves,  regarding  points  in  the  engraving 
hitherto  unnoticed  as  belonging  to  the  Arms. 


viii  Prefatory  Note 

K  any  persons  are  aware  of,  or  can  learn  "of  the  exist- 
ence of  copies  of  this  engraved  Military  Commission  in 
private  hands,  information  of  the  fact/  will  be  gratefully 
received  at  the  State  Library ;  for  it  would  be  a  matter 
of  considerable  interest  to  ascertain  the  latest  period 
when  this  engraved  form  of  the  Arms  was  in  use  on 
Military  Commissions.  There  is  considerable  difference 
in  the  language  employed  on  commissions  at  the  present 
time  and  the  language  on  the  commission  of  1778. 

March  22,  1880. 


THE    CORRECT   ARMS 


STATE  OF  NEW  YORK. 


The  people  of  the  States  of  the  New  World,  who  have 
become  independent  of  the  monarchical  governments  of 
Europe,  have  all  adopted  certain  emblematic  devices,  by 
which  they  are  recognized  among  themselves,  and  by  the 
rest  of  the  world.  These  emblems  they  employ  upon 
their  public  buildings,  their  flags,  their  seals,  their  med- 
als and  in  other  ways.  They  consist  of  a  shield  and 
crest,  and  other  insignia,  which  they  call  the  Arms  of  the 
State,  and  the  symbols  are  calculated  to  awaken  in  friend 
and  foe  due  sentiments  of  respect.  In  devising  these 
Arms  or  Ensigns,  they  have  imitated  their  former  rulers, 
whose  monarchies  from  the  times  of  the  crusades  have 
employed  such  signs,  most  frequently  called  coats  of 
arms,  as  badges  of  honor  and  discrimination.  The  usage 
has  been  so  systematized  and  developed,  as  applied  to 
families  and  States,  as  to  give  rise  to  that  special  art, 
called  the  science  of  heraldry. 
2 


10  CoEBECT  Arms  of  the 

As  a  people  we  have  no  yearnings  for  heraldry,  or  for 
coats  of  arms,  except  as  a  means  of  symbolizing  a  State 
by  some  sign  of  a  lofty  idea  or  aim,  or  of  its  characteristic 
traits;  and  in  this  spirit  all  the  States  and  Territories 
within  the  Union  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
also  many  of  the  cities  and  towns,  have  adopted  the  cus- 
tom of  using  each  a  special  symbol,  as  the  State  or  city 
Arms.  By  and  through  this  symbol,  the  State,  its  pres- 
ence, its  dignity,  its  property,  its  authority  and  the  rela- 
tion of  individuals  to  it  for  obedience  and  love,  are  de- 
clared with  most  effective  emphasis.  The  devices  on 
the  arms  of  these  many  States  are  extensively  known  and 
easily  remembered  by  all  men  interested  :  because  they 
are  perpetuated  without  any  changes ;  except  in  unessen- 
tials,  as  of  the  draper}'  of  the  figures,  or  the  arabesques 
or  scroll  work  surrounding  them. 

When,  however,  we  come  to  our  own  State,  the  great 
State  of  New  York,  we  find  that  for  many  years  past 
there  has  existed  great  uncertainty,  even  ainong  the  best 
informed  in  the  State,  as  to  what  is  the  exact  and  genu- 
ine device  of  its  State  Arms;  and  in  the  community  gen- 
erally, those  who  should  be  requested  to  state  in  an  infor- 
mal way  what  are  the  arms  of  New  York,  would  be  un- 
able to  answer  with  tolerable  correctness,  except  that  at 
least  all,  recalling  "  that  banner  with  a  strange  device," 
could  probably  say,  "  I  know  that  the  Motto  is,  Excel- 
sior." Enquiries  are  frequently  made  from  other  States 
at  the  public  offices  for  a  correct  copy  of  the  Arms,  and 
whatever  answer  is  sent,  it  is  with  doubt  and  hesitation. 

1  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say,  that  I  think  that  the  in- 
formation which  has  been  accumulated,  from  the  date  of 


State  of  New  Yoke.  11 

the  Centennial  year  of  1876,  makes  it  now  possible  to 
set  forth  the  true  Arms  of  the  State  in  an  unquestion- 
able form,  and  in  their  original  beauty  and  force. 

The  first  and  only  device  of  Arms  that  was  ever  made 
for  the  State  was  prepared  by  a  committee,  appointed 
by  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress  in  the  year  1777. 
In  the  Journals  of  that  body,  we  read  the  following, 
under  the  date  of  April  15: 

"On  motion  of  Mr,  Morris,  Resolved:  That  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  prepare  a  proper  device  for  a 
great  seal  for  this  State ;  and  that  Mr.  Morris,  Mr.  Jay 
and  Mr.  Hobart  be  a  committee  for  that  purpose."  * 

The  Congress  adjourned  in  less  than  one  month  there- 
after :  and  of  what  was  done  on  this  subject  by  the  three 
distinguished  members  of  the  Committee,  Lewis  Morris, 
John  Jay,  and  John  Sloss  Ilobart,  nothing  is  recorded 
in  the  Journals  of  the  Congress  or  the  Convention,  be- 
cause the  disturbances  of  active  war  on  the  Hudson 
river,  either  prevented  protracted  meetings  or  general 
business  previous  to  the  iiVst  meeting  of  the  legislature 
in  1778.  The  next  mention  of  the  State  Arms  is  after 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  New 
York  of  1777  at  this  first  session.  In  the  first  general 
law,  the  one  for  the  organization  of  the  government,  and 
passed  March  16, 1778,  it  is  said  that  the  device  prepared 
by  this  Committee  was  adopted. 

The  languasre  of  the  Statute  of  1778  as  far  as  relates 
to  the  Arms  and  Seals  is  in  those  words : 

"  And  whereas  arms  have  been  devised  for  this  State, 
and  two  several  seals  have  been  devised  and  made,  one 

*  Provincial  Congresa  of  N.T.,  Journals,  vol.  I,  p..  883. 


12  Correct  Arms  of  the 

of  the  said  seals  as  and  for  tlie  great  seal,  and  the  other 
as  and  for  the  privy  seal  of  this  State,  (and  which  said 
seals  are  now  in  the  custody  and  possession  of  his  excel- 
lency the  present  governor) :  — 

"  Be  it  therefore  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, that  the  said  arms  and  seals  shall  severally  be  and 
they  are  hereby  respectively  declared  to  be  the  arms,  the 
great  seal  and  the  privy  seal  of  this  State."  A  subse- 
quent clause  in  the  section  declares,  that  such  matters  as 
were  issued  under  the  seal  at  arms  of  the  governor  of  the 
colony  shall  issue  under  the  new  seal :  and  a  clause  in 
section  five  requires  the  person  administering  the  govern- 
ment to  "  deliver  to  the  secretary  of  the  State  descrip- 
tions of  the  device  of  the  said  arms  and  seals,  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  the  arms,  the  great  seal  and  the  privy  seal." 
These  several  extracts  embrace  every  mention  of  the 
word  Arms  throughout  the  law.  * 

In  April,  1786,  an  act  was  passed  which  authorized 
the  issuing  by  the  State  of  £200,000  in  bills  of  credit ; 
and  it  declared :  "  Upon  which  bills  shall  be  impressed 
the  Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York ;"  and  no  mention 
is  made  of  an  impress  of  any  seal  of  the  State  upon  the 
said  Bills.  The  Arms  are  once  more  mentioned  in  the 
law  in  speaking  of  the  engraver  to  engrave  them.f 

Eighteen  years  afterward,  a  law  of  Jan.  26,  1798,  pro- 
vides for  a  commission  of  three  public  officers  to  repair 
or  cause  to  be  made  a  new  great  seal,  after  such  device 
as  the  commission  shall  judge  proper,  but  it  makes  no 
allusion  to  the  Arms  of  the  State.     It  simply  requires 

*  Laws  of  the  State  of  N.Y..  Greenleaf's  ed.,  vol.  T,  p.  18. 
i  Laws  of  New  York,  Greenleaf's  ed.,  vol.  I,  p.  241. 


State  of  New  York.  18 

that  a  written  description  of  the  seal  shall  be  preserved 
in  the  secretary  of  State's  office.  *  This  Commission 
however  in  making  a  new  seal  record  the  description  of 
it  in  1799  in  these  words :  "  The  arms  of  the  State  com- 
plete, with  supporters,  crest  and  motto :  around  the  same, 
The  great  seal  of  the  State  of  New  York."  They  then 
describe  the  reverse.  They  do  not  pretend  to  have  de- 
vised anew  Arms;  and  while  they  have  not  followed 
closely  the  old  device,  they  do  not  appear  by  the  terms 
of  the  law  to  have  had  any  authority  for  any  changes 
which  were  made  by  the  artist,  f 

A  law  of  March  20,  1801,  like  the  preceding  one,  re- 
garding the  great  seal  and  the  privy  seal  of  the  State, 
uses  the  following  language  : 

Sect.  5.  "  The  description  in  writing  of  the  arras  and 
of  the  great  and  privy  seal  of  this  State,  recorded  and 
deposited  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  this  State  shall 
remain  as  public  records;  and  the  arms  and  great  and 
privy  seal  aforesaid,  of  which  descriptions  in  writing  have 
been  deposited  and  recorded  as  aforesaid  shall  be  and 
continue  the  Arms,  the  great  seal  and  the  privy  seal  of 
this  State  :     .     .     .  "  :{: 

This  law  makes  no  further  mention  of  the  Arms,  but 
merely  continues  to  speak  of  the  two  seals. 

May  27,  1809,  a  law  was  enacted  authorizing  the  sec- 
retary of  State  to  make  a  special  Seal  for  his  own  office, 
of  such  device  as  the  governor  should  approve;  and  a 

•  Laws  of  New  York  of  1T98,  p.  249. 

tThe  Commission  consisted  of  S.  Jones,  S.  De  Witt,  and  J.  Ogden  Hoff- 
man. Their  report,  filed  Jan.  22,  1779,  may  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of 
the  folio  entitled  "Official  Seals,"  in  MS-  in  the  secretary  of  State's  office. 
Also,  see  N.  Y.  civil  list,  Bd.  of  18C0,  p.  469. 

t  Laws  of  N.  Y.,  Webster  &  Skinner's  ed.,  vol.  I,  p.  205. 


14  CoERECT  Arms  of  the 

new  great  seal  with  a  written  description,  to  be  preserved 
in  the  secretary's  office.  This  law  of  1809  makes  no 
mention  of  the  Arms  of  the  State.  * 

A  law  passed  Feb.  25,  1813,  does  not  differ  from  the 
law  of  1801  except  that  it  includes  a  seal  for  the  office  of 
the  secretary  of  State,  under  a  like  requirement  for  the 
preservation  of  a  description  of  the  Arms.  Chap.  XIV, 
Sect.  6,  requires  "  That  the  description  in  writing  of  the 
Arms  and  of  the  great  and  privy  seal  of  this  State  and  of 
the  seal  of  office  of  the  secretary  of  this  State,  deposited 
and  recorded  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  this  State, 
shall  remain  as  public  records;  and  the  arms  and  great 
and  privy  seal  aforesaid,  and  the  seal  of  office  of  the  sec- 
retary, of  which  descriptions  in  writing  have  been  depos- 
ited and  recorded  as  aforesaid,  shall  be,  and  continue  the 
arms,  the  great  seal  and  the  privy  seal  of  office  of  the 
secretary  of  this  State."  f 

The  State  Arms  are  not  again  mentioned  in  this  law, 
nor  in  any  law  of  this  State  since  that  date,  except  as 
they  are  mentioned  in  the  revised  statutes;  and  the 
language  in  the  last  edition  of  1S75  relating  to  the  Arms 
and  Seals,  is  the  following: 

^^  Sect.  20.  The  description,  in  writing,  of  the  arms  of 
the  State,  and  of  the  great  and  privy  seals,  and  of  the 
seal  of  office  of  the  secretary  of  State,  deposited  and  re- 
corded in  the  secretary's  office,  shall  remain  as  public  re- 
cords; and  the  said  arms  shall  continue  to  be  the  arms 

*  Laws  of  N.  y .  1809,  Chap.  Ml,  p.  1*5.  A  description  of  this  seal  of  1809, 
siprned  by  Gov.  Tompkins,  and  an  Impression  of  it  maybe  found  In  the 
volume  of  OQiclal  Seals,  Secretary  of  State's  Office. 

+  fjaws  of  N.  y .,  Van  Neas  &  Woodward's  ed.,  vol.  I,  p.  458. 


State  of  New  York.  16 

of  the  State,  and  the  said  seal  of  office,  to  be  the  seal  of 
office  of  the  secretary  of  State.*  " 

The  declaration  that  there  is  somewhere  a  standard 
Anns  of  the  State,  that  can  be  appealed  to,  is  here  very 
emphatic ;  and  the  importance  of  the  declaration  will  be 
seen  in  the  sequel. 

Of  all  the  descriptions  of  the  arms  and  seals  alleged  to 
have  been  deposited  and  recorded  in  the  "secretary  of 
this  State's  office",  not  one  can  be  found,  I  am  assured, 
except  a  brief  description,  without  heraldic  detail,  of  the 
seal  of  1809.  The  search  for  these  descriptions  has,  I 
believe,  been  repeatedly  made  during  the  last  thirty 
years;  their  disappearance,  if  they  ever  existed  in  the 
office,  is  not  a  recent  one.f 

This  memorandum  containing  the  description  of  the 
great  seal  of  1809,  describes  a  picture,  having  as  a  basis 
the  arms  of  this  State,  which  is  drawn  up  in  heraldic 
language,  but  is  none  the  less  defective  if  regarded  as  a 
complete  description  of  the  Arms.  I  quote  it  in  a  note 
as  being  of  record  in  the  secretary's  office.  ^ 

From  all  these  extracts  from   the  laws  which  I  have 


♦  UaHks'  Ed.  of  Revised  Statutes,  1875,  vol,  I,  p.  535. 

+  N.  Y.  Qontal.  and  Blog.  Record,  vol  III,  p.  18.  —  N.  Y.  Civil  List,  ed.  of 
1867,  p.  429. 

t  Copy  of  the  meniorandiim  of  180H  In  the  secretary  of  State's  office : 

"  Description  of  the  new  great  seal  of  the  State  of  New  York,  procured  In 
pursuance  of  the  act  entitled  'An  Act  relative  to  the  otfice  of  secretary  of 
this  State,  authorizing  the  makintr  of  a  new  in'eat  seal  and  to  amend  the  act 
entitled  an  act  concerning  oaths. '  "    Passed  March  27, 1809. 

Argent.    A  rlsinc  sun  proper. 

Crest.  On  a  wreath  a  demi  globe  and  an  eagle  paMant  retrardant  all 
proper. 

Supporters.  The  figure  of  Justice  on  the  dexter,  and  liberty  on  the  sin- 
ister side. 

Motto.    Excelsior. 

Legend.    The  great  seal  of  the  State  of  New  York. 


16  Correct  Arms  of  the 

read,  and  they  embrace  all  the  laws  relative  to  the  sub- 
ject that  I  have  discovered,  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
first  device  of  Arms  adopted  by  the  State  has  ever  been 
changed  by  statute.  Nor  in  the  journals  of  the  legislature, 
from  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Arms  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  is  there  any  evidence  of  an  attempt  to  change 
them  by  legislation.  These  laws,  authorizing  changes  in 
the  seals  of  the  public  offices,  do  not  entail  as  a  conse- 
quence, or  even  suggest,  any  change  in  the  State  Arms. 

The  Arms  of  a  people,  containing  symbols  and  em- 
blems, adopted  under  the  influence  of  and  exemplifying 
the  ideas  and  principles  of  an  especial  crisis,  are  of  too 
serious  moment  to  be  subject  to  be  changed  in  accordance 
with  the  peculiar  fancies  of  individuals  in  each  successive 
decade  of  years.  And  if  changed  at  all  after  some  new 
grand  crisis,  the  change  should  not  be  made  regardless 
of  the  prevalent  laws  of  the  science  of  heraldry.  Thus 
it  is  almost  without  example  in  accordance  with  its  laws, 
that  one  or  both  of  the  two  supporters  of  the  escutcheon 
should  be  in  a  sifting  posture,  as  they  may  be  found  on 
some  of  the  seals  of  the  State,  and  in  pictures  alleged  or 
supposed  to  represent  the  State  Arms.  The  words  "  in- 
cumbent" or  "recumbent,"  applied  to  the  seal  of  1809 
in  the  New  York  Civil  List  is  used  to  contradistinguish 
the  modern  seal  from  the  pendant  seal  of  earlier  daj^s, 
and  not  to  the  supporters  as  lying  or  sitting.  The  name 
of  supporters^  given  heraldically  to  the  figures  by  the 
sides  of  a  shield,  implies  that  they  should  be  standing. 
Additions  may  more  appropriately  be  made  to  a  shield 
than  changes  may  be  made  in  it :  as  in  the  case  of  annex- 
ation of,  or  of  uniou  with  a  new  State. 


State  of  New  York.  17 

I  must  add  tliat  no  printed  description  of  the  Arms  of 
the  State,  as  devised  and  adopted  in  1778,  has  been  found 
to  my  knowledge  in  any  early  printed  document  of  the 
State ;  nor  has  there  been  found  a  line,  in  any  early 
document  or  memorandum  printed  or  written  any- 
where, touching  the  arms  or  the  seals,  authorizing  both 
of  the  figures  of  Justice  and  Liberty,  or  either  of  them, 
to  be  seated. 

It  might  be  conjectured  by  some  persons  that  the 
changes  which  were  from  time  to  time  made  in  the  seals, 
implied  a  change  in  the  Arms,  on  the  assumption  that 
the  word  arms  was  merely  a  name  for  the  central  por- 
tion of  the  seal.  This  assumption  is  without  founda- 
tion, because  that,  when  in  1778  the  great  and  privy 
seals  were  decreed,  the  Arms  were  also  decreed  as  a  sepa- 
rate thing.  The  proot  of  this  is  given  in  the  specimens 
of  the  seals  of  1778  annually  reprinted  in  the  New  York 
Civil  List,  where  we  see  that  the  devices  of  the  seals 
differ  greatly  from  the  device  for  the  Arms.  The  first 
great  seal  had  on  the  obverse  side  solely  a  rising  sun, 
with  the  motto.  Excelsior,  and  the  legend,  "  The  great 
seal  of  the  State  of  New  York."  On  the  reverse,  was 
a  rock  amid  the  ocean  with  the  legend,  Frustra.  1777. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Arms  were  made  having  among 
other  emblems  Liberty  and  Justice  as  supporters  of  the 
shield. 

It  will  not  have  escaped  notice  that  the  resolution  of 
the  N.  Y.  Provincial  Congress  of  1777  called  for  a  seal 
only ;  while  the  law  of  1778  declares  the  existence  of  and 
adopts,  both  Arms  and  Seals.  We  may  be  allowed  to 
suppose  that  the  Committee  having  provided  a  seal  with 
3 


18  Correct  Arms  of  the 

a  portion  of  what  is  now  the  Arms,  with  an  obverse  and 
reveree,  as  for  the  pendant  seals  which  have  a  seal  on 
both  sides,  judged  it  necessary  to  set  forth  an  Arms  com- 
plete as  a  substitute  for  the  colonial  Arms  formerly  in 
use  witli  the  Royal  escutcheon,  looking  forward  to  the 
time  when  they  would  be  also  upon  the  Seal.  The  sec- 
tion in  the  law  of  1778  providing  for  Arms  speaks  of  the 
Governor's  "  Seal  at  Arms."  A.nd  so  twenty  years  hav- 
ing elapsed  before  the  subject  was  again  reached  by  the 
legislature,  the  Commission  under  the  law  of  1798,  speak 
in  1799  of  the  new  great  seal,  as  having  the  "  arms  com- 
plete," as  if  they  had  completed  a  work  which  had  been 
intended  for  the  great  seal  from  the  beginning.*  Em 
barrassment  had  been  felt  on  account  of  the  contrast 
between  the  Seal  and  the  Arms,  and  therefore  the  new 
seal  was  made  to  embrace  the  original  Arms  of  1778, 
with  modifications,  which  there  was  authority  to  make, 
as  regards  devising  a  seal ;  but  as  the  law  of  1798  makes 
no  allusion  to  the  Arms,  consequently  it  gave  the  com- 
mission no  authority  to  make  changes  in  them. 

The  whole  interest  of  this  essay  turns  upon  the  fact, 
that  having,  as  I  hope,  produced  a  strong  conviction  in 
your  minds,  that  the  Arms  of  the  State  have  never  been 
changed  by  statute  or  legal  authority,  and  then  shown 
that  the  written  description  of  them  has  apparently  been 
lost,  I  am  now  able  to  adduce  the  strongest  evidence  of 
what  was  the  original  device,  —  evidence  which  in  most 
respects  is  of  more  value  than  a  description  would  be. 
The  evidence  consists  in  three  specimens  of  the  State 
Arms  which  have  been  preserved  as  they  were  engraved 

N.  y.  CIvU  List,  ed.  oflSST,  p.  427. 


State  of  New  York.  19 

or  painted  before  the  year  1785,  a  date  which  is  within 
eight  years  of  the  first  passage  of  the  law  for  a  State 
Arms  ;  and  each  one  of  the  three  is  impressed  with  a 
measure  of  official  authority. 

The^st  of  these  early  specimens  is  a  copy  of  the  Arms 
as  they  are  engraved  upon  a  military  commission  signed 
by  Gov.  George  Clinton,  June  25,  1778,  the  commission 
itself  being  dated  within  about  three  months  after  the 
passage  of  the  law  of  March  16,  1778.  Mr.  Edward  F. 
De  Lancey,  President  of  the  Westchester  Historical 
Society,  a  master  of  the  mysteries  of  heraldry,  who  first 
brought  this  specimen  to  my  notice,  gave  a  photographed 
copy  of  it  to  the  State  Library.  He  thus  speaks  of  it 
in  a  letter  to  me  dated  July  8,  1878  :  — 

" The  whole  form  of  the  commission  is  en- 
graved upon  a  copper  plate  elegantly  executed,  about 
eight  by  ten  inches  in  size,  the  arms  being  in  the  upper 

right  hand  corner I  never  saw  or  heard  of  it 

till  this  week.  .  .  .  It  is  as  fine  a  piece  of  copper  plate 
engraving  as  I  know  of  executed  in  America.  I  have 
had  the  elegant  initial  letter  T  in  which  the  arms  are 
used  as  an  interior  ornament,  photographed.  The  en- 
graver's name  is  Dawkins,  and  he  is  I  believe  the  same 
man  who  made  the  first  seal  of  the  State.  .  .  .  He 
lived  at  Poughkeepsie.  The  date  of  the  commission  is 
June  25,  1778.  .  .  .  The  photograph  of  the  T  is 
only  a  trifle  larger  than  the  original.  .  .  .  This  com- 
mission is  a  general  militia  commission,  and  could  be 
used  for  any  rank  of  field  or  company  officers,  blanks 
being  left  to  be  filled  as  required." 

The  commission  was  for  Daniel  Mortine,  as  second 


20  Correct  Arms  of  the 

lieutenant  of  Capt.  Samuel  Haight's  company  of  West- 
chester county,  in  Col.  Samuel  Drake's  regiment.  The 
initial  letter  T  was  for  the  first  word  of  the  commission, 
The.  The  first  clause  of  the  sentence  reads,  "  The  people 
of  the  State  of  New  York." 

In  this  specimen  the  shield  is  much  broader  at  the  base 
than  in  the  two  following  specimens,  for  a  reason  which 
will  afterwards  be  explained.  The  scales  of  Justice  are 
held  clear  of  her  body,  and  the  sword  is  not  held  firmly 
erect.  The  drapery  of  the  figures  though  not  classic  is 
more  agreeable  than  in  the  third  specimen.  As  this 
specimen  is  the  first  in  order  of  time  and  employed  upon 
a  military  commission  signed  by  the  Governor,  it  neces- 
sarily takes  precedence  over  the  others  as  having  more 
direct  official  authority. 

Mr.  G.  R.  Howell  of  the  State  Library  has  kindly 
furnished  a  blazon  of  the  Arms  on  this  commission,  that 
should  have  technical  exactness  as  far  as  possible,  regard 
being  had  to  the  failure  of  the  engraver  to  indicate  colors 
by  the  usual  mode  of  dots  and  lines,  and  to  the  modern 
costume  of  the  figures.  * 

•  Blazon  of  the  Arms  of  New  York  as  engraved  on  the  Military  Commission 
of  1778,  by  Mr.  Georfte  R.  Howell. 

Arms.  Aziire,  in  fess,  the  sun  rising^  in  splendor,  or,  behind  a  range 
of  three  inoun tains,  vert  and  half  irradiated,  at  their  base  formings 
a  grassy  shore  ;  in  base  a  ship  and  sloop  under  sail,  passing  and  about 
to  meet,  on  a  river  (or  strait)  irradiated,  bordered  by  a  grassy  shore 
fringed  witli  shrubs,  all  proper. 

Crest.  On  a  wreath  argent  and  vert,  an  eagle  proper  rising  to  the 
dexter,  from  a  two  thirds  of  a  globe,  showing  parallels  of  latitude, 
and  the  Atlantic  ocean  with  adjoining  outlines  of  the  equatorial  por- 
tions of  tlie  two  continents. 

Supporters  on  a  quasi  compartment  formed  by  tlie  extension  of 
the  scroll. 

Dexter.  I..iberty,  her  face,  necli,  arms,  and  hands  proper,  the  feet 
in  socks ;  vested  in  a  sliort  tunic,  uncinctured,  fringed  at  bottom, 
deml-sleeved,  over  a  gown  reaching  to  the  feet.  Over  all,  a  broad 
sash  vert,  festoony,  depending  from  under  her  sinister  shoulder  to 


State  of  New  York.  21 

The  Second  Specimen  of  the  Anns  is  one  which  was 
painted  upon  the  flag  of  the  Third  New  York  Regi- 
ment commanded  by  Col.  Peter  Gansevoort  Jr.,  during 
the  revolutionary  war.  The  regiment  had  been  raised 
and  recruited  by  him  in  1T7T,  and  its  first  active  service 
was  in  defence  of  Fort  Stanwix  on  the  Mohawk  river, 
where  it  made  a  successful  sortie  against  the  forces  under 
Gen.  St.  Leger.  The  colonels  of  the  three  New  York 
regiments  had  petitioned  the  Committee  of  Safety  to  be 
furnished  with  colors  as  early  as  Nov.  30,  1776.  But 
this  regiment  was  still  unprovided  with  a  flag.  The 
knowledge  that  the  flag,  which  they  had  improvised  dur- 
ing the  investment,  had  been  made  with  portions  of  the 
garments  of  some  of  those  within  tiie  fort,  induced  the 
preparation  in  the  year  177S  or  1779,  of  the  beautiful 
stand  of  colors  for  the  regiment,  which  is  still  rever- 
ently preserved  in  the  family,  although  much  tattered. 
With  the  kind  consent  of  its  present  possessor,  Mrs. 
Abraham  Lansing  of  Albany,  it  was  unfurled  with  great 

her  dexter  hip,  and  thence  from  a  fastening:  nearly  to  the  ankles. 
In  the  dexter  hand  a  staff  ensij^ned  with  a  Phryg^ian  cap,  the  siniKter 
arm  euibovred,  tlie  hand  and  fore  arm  behind  and  supporting  the 
Hliield  ;  the  sinister  foot  resting;  on  a  royal  crown  dejected. 

SinUtcr.  Justice,  lier  face,  neck,  arms,  and  liands  proper,  her  feet 
in  socks;  vested  in  a  sliort  tunic  uncinctured,  fringed  at  bottom, 
demi-sleeved,  over  a  gown  reaching  to  the  feet ;  over  all  a  broad  sash 
gules,  crossing  bendwise  from  the  winister  shoulder  to  tlie  dexter  hip  ; 
bound  about  the  eyes  with  a  fillet  vert(?l;  in  the  dexter  hand  a  two 
edged  sword,  cros.s-hilted,  erect,  the  middle  point  resting  against  her 
dexter  shoulder ;  the  sinister  arm  embowed,  the  hand  holding  out 
from  the  person  her  scales  proper. 

Motto.    On  a  scroll  argent,  in  sable,  Kxcelsior. 

Observations.  A  slight  amount  of  scroll  work  is  employed  for  orna- 
ment above  the  sliield. — No  indication  of  color  by  dots  or  lines  is 
given  on  this  engraving,  except  in  the  cases  of  the  wreath,  the  sash 
of  Liberty,  and  the  sash  and  fillet  of  Justice,  where  the  lines  repre- 
sent the  colors  above  given,  but  may  have  been  intended  only  as  an 
artist's  shading. 


22  Correct  Arms  of  the 

ceremony  at  the  centennial  celebration  at  Oriskany  in 
1877,  exciting  a  thrill  of  admiration  in  the  fifty  thousand 
people  assembled  there. 

The  Regiment  remained  at  Fort  Stanwix  (Schuyler,) 
till  June,  1779,  when  it  marched  to  take  part  in  the  Sul- 
livan campaign  of  that  year.  During  1780  it  was  with 
the  main  army  under  Gen.  Washington  in  New  Jersey. 
In  Jan.,  1781,  the  3d,  4th  and  5th  N.  Y.  regiments  were 
consolidated  with  the  Ist  and  2d.  Col.  Gansevoort,  Oct. 
15,  1781,  being  at  Albany,  was  sent  by  Gov.  Clinton  as 
General  of  brigade  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the 
State  in  the  direction  of  Yermont.*  Gen.  P.  Ganse- 
voort in  1864  wrote  with  his  own  hand  a  declaration  that 
that  flag  was  also  "  borne  at  the  surrender  of  Yorktown 
in  1781, "f  having  been  carried  probably  to  the  2d  regi- 
ment, and  allowed  to  be  used  on  account  of  its  history 
and  beauty,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  battalion  from  the  3d 
Regiment  which  had  joined  it.  It  was  afterwards  re- 
turned to  Gen.  Gansevoort  at  Albany.  Whether  the 
flag  was  present  on  that  occasion  or  not,  its  value  is  en- 
hanced as  a  specimen  of  the  true  Arms  of  New  York  in 
proportion  as  the  date  when  it  was  painted,  approaches 
the  year  1778,  when  the  law  establishing  the  Arms  was 
passed. 

I  have  entered  into  more  details  regarding  this  flag 
than  would  have  been  necessary,  if  it  had  not  been  that 
a  State  appropriation  in  1879  was  made  to  secure  a  copy 

*  Some  of  the  preceding  statements  respectinK  the  history  of  this  regi- 
ment have  been  condensed  by  me  from  a  iniich  longer  sketch  in  MS.,  for 
which  I  am  much  Indebted  to  Prof.  A.  B  Gardner,  LL.  D.,  Judge  Advo- 
cate, U.  8.  A.,  now  In  New  York  city. 

t  Albany  Army  Relief  Bazar  :    Catalogue  of  Relics.    Albany:    1864.    8vo. 


State  of  New  York.  28 

of  the  Arms  "  taken  from  a  flag;  borne  at  Yorktown  in 
1781,''  which  was  expressed  in  these  terms :  "  For  the 
secretary  of  State,  for  the  purchase  of  a  colored  picture 
of  the  arms  of  the  State,  taken  from  a  flag  borne  at  York- 
town  by  the  American  army  in  1781,  to  be  deposited  in 
the  State  Library,  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars."* 

The  doubt  thrown  by  the  researches  of  Maj.  Gardner, 
on  the  truth  of  the  alleged  fact,  led  to  conclusions  as 
stated  above,  which  made  the  flag  still  n»ore  valuable 
as  a  witness  to  what  are  the  correct  Arms,  than  on  the 
assumption  made  in  the  law  appropriating  money  for  the 
painting. 

The  Arms  are  carefully  and  finely  painted  upon  both 
sides  of  the  flag,  which  is  of  dark  blue  silk,  and  about 
seven  feet  square.  The  Arms  complete  cover  upon  the 
flag  a  space  of  about  four  feet  four  inches  wide  by  three 
feet  five  inches  high  ;  the  two  figures  are  each  two  feet 
two  and  a  half  inches  high. 

Acting  again  in  the  same  kind  spirit  as  I  before  men- 
tioned, Mrs.  Lansing  has  afforded  the  utmost  facility  for 
securing  an  exact  copy  of  this  venerable  flag  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  law.  It  has  been  beautifully  and  perfectly 
painted  on  canvas  in  oil  colors  by  Miss  Annie  Wrightson, 
of  Albany.  The  copy  is  one  half  of  the  size  of  the  paint- 
ing on  the  flag. 

This  second  specimen  presents  some  striking  depart- 
ures from  the  first,  chiefly  such  as  were  introduced 
by  the  fancy  or  carelessness  of  the  painter.  It  has  the 
great  value  of  being  the  first  specimen  which  we  have 
in  colors ;  and  the  colors  of  the  drapery  differ  consider. 

*  Laws  of  1879,  May  13, Chap.  272. 


24  Correct  Arms  of  the 

ably  from  those  employed  in  the  third  specimen.  The 
expression  of  the  features  of  the  head  of  Liberty  is  pecu- 
liarly winning.  Of  the  Arms  on  the  flag  I  am  able  to 
subjoin  a  more  technical  description,  as  before,  through 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Howell.* 

The  third  of  these  speciTnens  of  the  State  Arms  is  a 
painting  on  canvas,  which  was  first  hung  up  in  St.  Paul's 
Chapel,  New  York  cit}',  on  the  south  wall,  in  1785.  It 
was  suspended  over  the  large  square  and  canopied  pew 
occupied  by  Gov.George  Clinton,  and  opposite  to  a  similar 
pew  on  the  north  occupied  by  Gen.  Washington,  one  of 
them  having  been  the  pew  _^of  the  Provincial  governor 
during  the  British  possession  of  New  York,  and    after 

*  Heraldic  description  of  the  Arms  on  the  N.  Y.  Regiment  Flag  of  1779. 

Arms.  Azure,  in  fess  the  sun  rising  in  splendor,  or,  belxiud  a  range 
of  tliree  mountains,  proper  ;  in  base  the  sea  wavy. 

Crest.  On  a  -wreath  argent  and  gules,  an  eagle  proper,  langued  of 
the  last,  rising  to  tlie  dexter  from  a  two  tliirds  of  a  globe  showing  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  and  a  part  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  continents  in 
outline. 

Supporters.  Supporters  on  a  quasi  compartment  formed  by  the 
extension  of  the  scroll.  Dexter.  Libeirty,  her  hair  bro-vrn,  her  face, 
neck,  arms,  hand  and  feet  proper,  the  last  sandalled  and  stringed 
grules;  vested  in  a  close  fitting  waist,  demi-sleeved,  having  lapels  fall- 
ing over  a  gown  reaching  to  the  feet,  both  cloth  of  gold ;  a  mantle 
gnles  depending  from  the  shouldei's  behind  to  the  feet ;  a  ribbon 
azure  passing  from  the  sinister  shoulder  bendwise  under  the  dexter 
breast ;  in  the  dexter  hand  a  staff,  ensigned  with  a  Phrygian  cap,  or, 
the  sinister  arm  embowed,  the  hand  supporting  the  shield  ;  the  sin- 
ister foot  resting  on  a  royal  crown  dejected. 

Sinister,  Justice  her  hair  brown,  her  face,  neck,  arms,  hands  and 
feet  proper,  the  last  sandalled  and  stringed  gules  ;  vested  in  a  close 
fitting  waist,  demi-sleeved,  having  lapels  falling  over  a  gown  reach- 
ing to  the  feet,  both  of  cloth  of  gold  ;  a  mantle  gules,  depending 
from  the  shoulders  behind  to  the  feet ;  a  ribbon  azure  passing  from 
the  dexter  shoulder  bendwise  under  the  sinister  breast ;  bound  about 
the  eyes  -witli  a  fillet  proper  ;  in  the  dexter  Iiand  a  sword  erect  rest- 
ing between  the  forte  and  middle  parts  on  lier  dexter  shoulder,  the 
sinister  arm  embowed,  the  hand  holding  out  from  her  person  her 
scales  proper. 

Motto,    On  a  scroll  argent,  in  sable,  I^xcelsior. 

Obs.  One  branch  of  scroll  T«'ork  is  used  for  ornament  over  each 
supporter,  terminating  at  the  wreath.  Joiner  scroll  work  borders  the 
outer  edge  of  the  shield. 


State  of  New  York.  25 

the  burning  ot  Trinity  Church  in  1776.  At  "  some 
dreary  day  of  modernizing"*  the  painting  was  locked 
up  along  with  the  painting  of  the  Arms  of  the  United 
States.  After  a  few  years,  they  were  suspended  in  the 
porch :  but  both  were  restored  to  tlieir  original  places 
about  the  year  1857.  The  dimensions  of  this  picture  of 
the  New  York  Arms  are  67  by  45  inches. 

In  1875,  the  authorities  in  Philadelphia,  preparing  for 
the  Centennial  celebration  of  1876,  were  desirous  of 
securing  paintings  of  the  arms  of  the  original  thirteen 
States  for  suspension  in  Independence  Hall,  and  they 
applied  to  Mr.  DeLancey,  whose  name  I  have  already 
mentioned,  for  a  copy  of  the  New  York  Arms.  Mr. 
DeLancey  regarding  this  painting  justly,  as  the  most  cor- 
rect and  ancient  picture  of  the  Arms  then  known,  by 
his  personal  exertions  obtained  an  appropriation  in  the 
supply  bill  of  1875  of  six  hundred  dollars  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  copies  of  it  made.  It  reads :  "  For  the 
governor,  for  the  purpose-  of  procuring  two  paintings  on 
panel-wood  or  metal,  of  the  arms  or  heraldic  device  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  one  to  be  placed  in  the  State 
library,  and  the  other  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
committee  on  the  restoration  of  Independence  Hall, 
Philadelphia,  six  hundred  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as 
may  be  nece8sary."f  The  object  of  the  deposit  in  the 
State  Library  was  to  diffuse  and  perpetuate  a  knowledge 
of  the  genuine  State  Arms.  The  first  two  specimens 
which  we  have  just  mentioned,  having  since  been  dis- 

♦  History  of  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  N.  Y.,  by  Rev.  Morgan  Dix,  D,  D.,  1867,— Rev. 
Mr.  Betts,  in  the  N.  Y.  Qeueal.  Record,  vol.  ni,  p.  116,  on  the  Heraldry  of  St. 
Paul's  Chapel. 

i  Chap.  634,  Laws  of  1875. 

4: 


26  CoERECT  Arms  of  the 

covered,  had  not  come  into  public  notice.  We  give  in 
a  note  a  description  of  this  painting  of  the  Arms  in 
heraldic  language,  made  and  published  by  the  Rev.  B. 
R.  Betts,  of  N.  Y.  City,  in  place  of  the  description  of 
the  copy  which  was  made  for  the  State  Library  in  1875, 
and  which  differs  from  the  original  painting  in  some 
respects.* 

Besides  these  two  copies,  a  third  was  made  for  the  cen- 
tennial exhibition  in  Philadelphia  for  the  Hall  devoted 
to  the  Women's  Pavilion  for  the  Works  of  Women. 
This  copy  was  embroidered  by  Tiffany  &  Co.  on  a  light 
colored  silk,  and  was  in  size  about  fifteen  by  twelve 
feet.  The  expense  was  paid  by  collections  made  for 
the  purpose  from  the  women  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
under  the  auspices  of  Mrs.  Howard  Townsend.  By 
means  of  a  second  appropriation  of  the  Legislature 
in  1878,  obtained  upon  the  request  of  the  same  lady, 
another  copy,  the  fourth  of  the  same  painting,  was  made 

♦Blazon  of  the  Arms  of  New  York  from  the  St.  Paul's  Chapel  painting  of 
1785,  by  Rev.  B.  R.  Betts. 

Arms.  Per  fess,  the  sky  in  chief  and  the  sea  in  base,  the  upper  half  of  the 
Sun  rising  out  of  the  latter,  all  proper. 

Crest.  On  a  wreath  vert  and  argent  the  northern  half  of  the  terrestrial 
globe,  of  the  second,  the  meridians  sable,  a  spike  projecting  from  the  pale 
of  the  last;  above  it,  but  not  touching,  an  eagle  rising  proper,  to  the  sinis- 
ter, his  head  reflexed  below  his  breast,  grasping  in  his  beak  his  dexter 
talon. 

Supporters  on  a  quasi  compartment  formed  by  the  extension  of  the  scroll 
or.  Dexter.  Liberty,  hair  brown,  decorated  with  pearls,  proper,  face,  neck, 
arms,  hands  and  feet  also  proper;  sandalled  gules,  vested  vert ;  depending 
from  and  behind  her  shonlders  a  brown  mantle,  in  her  dexter  hand  a  pole 
sable,  spiked  at  the  foot  or,  thereon  a  Phrygian  cap  argent,  the  sinister  hand 
resting  on  the  shield.  Sinister.  Justice,  her  face  neck  arnis  hands  and  feet 
proper,  sandalled  gules,  her  hair  brown  and  flowing,  decorated  with  pearls, 
vested  in  a  brownish  gray,  cinctured  about  the  waist  azure,  the  cincture 
fringed  or,  bound  about  the  eyes  with  a  fillet  sable,  depending  from  and  be- 
hind her  shoulders  a  mantle  as  the  c\ficture,  holding  in  her  dexter  hand  a 
sword  erect  argent  pomelled  and  hilted  gold ;  in  her  left  depending  by  a 
ribbon  gules,  her  scales,  the  beam  liable,  the  strings  as  the  ribbon,  the  scales, 
round,  or.— From  N.  Y.  Qeneal.  and  Biog.  Record,  1872,  vol.  m,  p.  119. 


State  of  New  York.  27 

for  the  Mount  Vernon  Association,  to  be  hung  up  with 
the  arms  of  the  other  States  in  the  mansion  at  Mt. 
Yernon. 

Having  now  given  a  history  of  these  three  earliest  known 
specimens  of  the  Arras,  and  accompanied  each  one  with 
a  scientific  description,  it  seems  necessary  and  unavoid- 
able that  I  should  describe  particularly  the  earliest 
specimen  in  language  which  shall  be  clear  and  suffi- 
ciently exact,  avoiding  as  much  as  may  be  possible  tech- 
nical terms,  and  that  I  should  at  the  same  time  indicate 
the  points  wherein  the  second  and  third  differ  from  the 
first. 

Akms.  Shield.  At  the  base  of  the  shield  of  the 
first  specimen,  a  shore  of  land  is  seen  fringed  with 
shrubbery,  beyond  there  is  an  expanse  of  water  smooth 
and  calm.  In  the  two  later  specimens  tlie  water  com- 
mences at  the  very  base  of  the  shield,  in  the  second 
it  is  in  commotion,  and  in  the  third  it  is  calm.  Upon 
the  water  a  ship  and  a  sloop  are  seen  advancing  to- 
wards each  other.  Upon  the  second  and  third  there  are 
no  vessels.  Beyond  the  water  appear  in  the  two  first 
three  mountains,  the  central  one  being  the  most  ele- 
vated. In  the  Library  copy  of  the  third  there  are 
mountains,  but  on  the  painting  in  St.  Paul's  chapel 
it  is  clear  that  the  sun  rises  directly  from  the  water 
without  mountains.  In  the  first  and  second  two  thirds 
of  a  sun,  with  a  great  effulgence  of  rays,  appears  be- 
yond the  mountains. 

Crest.  An  eagle,  with  its  head  and  front  of  its  body 
directed  to  the  right  of  the  shield  and  its  wings  spread, 
stands  upon  a  two  thirds  of  a  globe,  with  parallels  of  lat- 


28  Correct  Arms  of  the 

itude ;  it  shows  outlines  of  a  portion  of  the  east  coast  of 
the  New  World  and  of  the  west  coast  of  the  old 
world.  The  eagle  of  the  second  specimen  very  nearly 
resembles  that  of  the  first.  Neither  of  them  should 
be  supposed  to  have  been  drawn  to  represent  what 
we  call  an  American  eagle,  but  only  the  traditional 
heraldic  eagle.  The  eagle  of  the  third  specimen  con- 
forms more  nearly  to  our  usual  notion  of  the  eagle,  but 
it  has  the  peculiarity  that  its  head  is  turned  to  the  left, 
while  its  feet  do  not  touch  the  globe,  but  it  hovers  over 
it  in  flight.  The  word  "  America  "  is  painted  upon  the 
globe,  and  there  are  drawn  meridian  lines  in  addition  to 
the  parallels  of  latitude. 

Supporters.  The  figure  of  Liberty  is  on  the  right  of 
the  shield,  and  is  completely  dressed  in  a  robe,  with  a 
mantle  falling  from  one  shoulder,  and  passing  in  front 
below  the  waist.  In  the  second  and  third  the  mantle  re- 
sembles an  imperial  cloak,  spreading  out  behind  on  both 
sides  of  the  robe,  and  somewhat  shorter.  The  robe  reaches 
to  the  feet,  which  have  socks  upon  them,  while  in  the  sec- 
ond and  third  they  have  sandals.  There  is  no  belt  at 
the  waist  in  the  first  or  second,  but  there  is  in  the  third. 
Besides  the  face  and  neck,  the  hands  and  fore-arm  only 
are  nude.  The  same  is  true  of  the  other  two.  Her  left 
foot  rests  upon  a  crown,  which  is  overturned.  In  her 
right  hand  she  holds  an  upright  staff  with  a  liberty  cap 
upon  it,  and  her  left  supports  the  shield  with  vigilance 
and  firmness.  In  the  second  specimen  also  the  foot  rests 
upon  a  similar  crown  ;  in  the  third  specimen  the  crown 
lies  at  the  foot  of  Liberty.  In  the  St.  Paul's  Chapel  pic- 
ture in  New  York,  in  addition  to  the  crown  overturned, 


State  of  New  York.  29 

there  is  lying  under  the  crown  cross-wise  a  sword  and 
a  sceptre. 

On  the  left  of  the  shield  the  figure  of  Justice  stands, 
with  a  robe  similar  to  that  of  Liberty,  with  a  long  waist, 
having  lapels  but  no  belt.  The  mantle  passes  from  be- 
hind over  lier  left  shoulder  down  in  front  across  under 
the  right  fore-arm.  The  same  style  of  cloak  is  worn  in 
the  second  and  third  as  by  Liberty.  In  her  left  hand  she 
holds  an  even  balance;  in  the  two  earliest  specimens, 
it  hangs  away  from  her  body,  and  in  the  St.  Paul's 
chapel  specimen  directly  in  front  of  her  body.  In  her 
right  hand  she  holds  a  sword  with  the  point  upward,  but 
her  arms  down  in  the  two  early  specimens,  the  elbow  touch- 
ing the  shield.  The  sword  is  raised  higher,  with  her 
hand  touching  the  left  point  of  tlie  shield,  in  the 
Chapel  specimen.  Her  eyes  are  blindfolded  in  all  three 
of  them,  but  she  seems  anxiously  and  intently  listen- 
ing to  reach  the  truth.  The  face,  neck,  hands  and  fore- 
arms only  are  exposed.  It  is  so  also  with  the  second.  In 
the  third  nearly  the  whole  arm  is  bared. 

Her  feet  are  covered  with  socks  in  the  first  two,  and 
sandalled  in  tlie  last  specimen.  The  first  two  have  no 
belt  at  the  waist,  in  the  last  one  Justice  is  belted. 

Motto.  The  word  Excelsior,  painted  upon  a  scroll, 
upon  the  ends  of  which  stand  the  supporters,  alike  in 
all  three  of  the  specimens.  There  is  a  mantling  of  scroll- 
work over  all  the  three  specimens. 

The  next  representations  of  the  Arms,  the  nearest  in 
time  to  the  Chapel  painting,  were  on  the  New  York 
copper  tokens  of  1786  and  1787.  There  were  issued 
four  yarieties  of  copper  coins  in  those  years  known  by 


30  Correct  Arms  of  the 

that  name,  and  even  a  gold  piece  of  the  same  size.  They 
were  struck  at  Birmingham,  England,  as  a  means  of 
profit  for  speculators  in  New  York  city,  and  all  bore 
upon  them  some  portion  of  the  Arms  of  the  State,*  One 
of  them,  having  on  the  obverse  the  figure  of  an  armed 
Indian  chief,  had  on  the  reverse,  a  rudely  cut  but  lively 
picture  of  the  complete  Arms,  the  supporters  markedly 
holding  up  the  shield,  although  each  one  is  on  the  wrong 
side  of  it,  and  the  head  of  the  eagle  is  turned  to  the  left. 
None  of  these  can  be  appealed  to  for  official  evidence  of 
the  original  device  of  Arms,  as  they  were  issued  without 
authority  of  law,  the  legislature  declining  to  recognize 
the  undertaking. 

A  lithographic  picture  of  the  Arms,  obtained  from  a 
study  of  the  three  specimens  first  described,  and  con- 
formed largely  to  the  one  from  the  military  commission 
specimen,  has  been  prepared  by  Mr,  S.  C.  Hutchins  and 
will  be  published  as  a  vignette  on  the  title  page  of  the 
edition  of  the  New  York  Civil  List  for  1880.  The  vol- 
ume will  contain  from  his  pen  many  of  the  facts  which 
I  have  mentioned.f  In  the  year  1875,  a  copy  of  the  St. 
Paul's  chapel  painting  of  the  Arms  was  cut  on  wood 
with  the  legend,  Saint  Nicholas  Club.  1875,  as  a  design 
for  the  seal  of  that  institution,  and  it  may  yet  be  adopted 
as  such. 


♦  Hlckcox's  American  colnapre,  pp.  78,  Y9.— Historical  Magazine,  1869,  p.  117. 
+  Mr.  Quayle,  an  engraver  in  Albany.  In  the  precedinK  month  has  also  made 
a  miniature  enKraving  of  the  Arms,  intended  for  use  for  letter-heads  for  the 
puVjllc  ofBces,  he  having  availed  himself  of  all  three  of  these  representa- 
tions of  the  Arms  to  perfect  his  design. 


State  of  New  Yokk.  31 

No  peculiar  significance  or  meaning  has  been  attaclied 
hitherto  to  some  of  the  emblems  constituting  the  original 
Arms  of  the  State :  yet  it  is  well  worthy  of  our  inquiry 
whether  they  had  not  a  very  distinct  and  positive  mean  • 
ing  in  the  minds  of  the  original  proposers  of  them.  If 
the  interpretation  of  them  which  I  shall  venture  to  give 
shall  be  received  as  correct,  I  am  confident  it  will  en- 
hance our  respect  and-attachment  for  them.  This  signifi- 
cance disappears  from  most  of  the  modern  representa- 
tions of  the  Arms ;  nor  does  any  one  of  the  three  ex- 
press all  the  meanings  with  equal  force. 

I  think  the  device  upon  the  shield  is  emblematic  of 
New  York  itself,  by  means  of  its  most  characteristic 
feature,  the  passage  of  the  Hudson  river  through  the 
mountains  to  the  ocean ;  the  tranquil  and  calm  water 
represents  not  the  sea  but  the  Hudson  river ;  there  is 
land  at  the  base  of  the  shield,  with  shrubs  upon  it,  which 
is  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  The  reason  why  the  shield 
was  made  so  broad  at  the  bottom  as  compared  with  the 
very  pointed  base  of  the  third  specimen,  was  probably 
to  give  an  opportunity  to  make  the  land  on  the  west 
bank  to  be  more  obvious  to  the  eye.  The  mountains  rep- 
resent those  of  the  Highlands  on  the  east  bank.  The 
water  is  not  in  commotion,  dashing  up  against  the  base  of 
the  mountains,  as  drawn  upon  the  great  seal  of  1777; 
for  the  mountains  do  not  spring  directly  out  of  the  water, 
but  have  a  shore  of  foot  hills  of  very  slight  elevation  be- 
tween them  and  the  water.  The  existence  of  this  low 
land  on  one  and  both  sides  of  the  water  has  never  before 
been  recognized  on  the  shield  in  any  of  the  later  draw- 


32  Correct  Arms  of  the 

ings  until  this  moment.*  Upon  this  river  is  to  be  seen, 
with  a  ship,  the  once  so  familiar  North  river  sloop,  pass- 
ing through  this  wonderful  chasm  in  the  great  Appa- 
lachian chain  of  mountains,  which  tells  of  the  path  for 
an  empire  assured  thereby  to  New  York,  in  the  facility 
that  this  tidal  communication,  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  from  the  ocean  by  the  river  towards  the  great 
lakes,  and  to  the  heart  of  the  continent  was  to  offer  for 
carrying  on  the  commerce  of  the  new  United  States.f 

The  eagle  as  the  crest  of  New  York  has  this  historical 
prominence,  that  it  is  extremely  probable  that  New  York 
was  the  first  of  the  States  to  make  use  of  it.  It  now  forms 
the  crest  of  only  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  of  the  orig- 
inal thirteen  States.  It  was  adopted  by  New  York  pre- 
vious to  its  being  adopted  by  Pennsylvania.;}:  It  was  not 
on  the  colonial  arms  of  Maryland,  and  in  what  year  after 
the  revolution  it  was  first  put  upon  the  great  seal  of  the 
State  by  the  Council  the  evidence  is  not  yet  clear.§  The 
eagle  was  not  adopted  as  a  portion  of  the  Arms  of  the 
United  States  till  June  20,  1782,  more  than  four  years 
after  its  adoption   by   the  State  of  New   York,   as  its 


♦The  Rev.  J.  H.  Frazer  of  Franklin,  Delaware  countj',  who  has  In  hl8  pos- 
session the  original  engraved  military  commission  of  1778  has  at  my  request 
made  an  attentive  scrutiny  of  it,  and  he  informs  me  that  there  Is  unquestion- 
ably engraved  upon  the  Arms,  land  on  both  sides  of  the  water,  such  as  I 
have  described  it. 

tit  Is  not  a  conclusion  that  I  have  adopted;  but  I  have  thought  that 
when  the  original  blazon  of  the  Arms  comes  to  be  discovered,  if  it  ever 
happen,  it  may  be  we  shall  find  tliat  the  sun  -was  designed  to  represent  a 
"  westering  "  sun,  and  not  a  rising  sun ;  in  which  case  the  mountains  depicted 
upon  the  shield  would  be  tliose  upon  the  west  bank  of  the  Uudson,  and 
stand  for  the  Catskills  which  they  fairly  resemble,  while  they  are  more  than 
twice  as  elevated  as  the  mountains  lower  down  the  river. 
tPenna.  Legis.  Docts.,  vol.  m,  1875,  No.  21. 
9  Maryland,  Laws  of  1854. 


State  of  New  York.  33 

crest.*  It  had  not  been  upon  any  arms  or  seals  pre- 
viously used  in  the  State. f  There  is  reasonable  ground 
for  the  conviction  that  the  crest  of  New  York,  an  eagle 
facing  to  the  west,  with  wings  spread,  was  the  device  of 
those  who  were  familiar  with  the  idea  of  western  de- 
velopment, rendered  popular  by  the  prophetic  verses  of 
Bishop  George  Berkeley,  (of  whom  Pope  said  he  had 
"  every  virtue  under  heaven  "),  at  the  time  of  his  enthu- 
siasm for  education  in  America.  They  were  written  by 
him  just  half  a  century  before  the  Revolution,  and  were 
entitled  "  The  prospect  of  planting  the  Arts  and  Learn- 
ing in  America."  He  afterwards  passed  more  than  two 
years  (1729-1731),  at  Newport,  in  Rhode  Island.  The 
device  was  intended  to  shadow  forth,  as  in  a  picture, 
the  concluding  lines  of  those  verses : 

"Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  Its  way ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day; 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

The  eagle's  head  and  front,  and  its  flight  are  in  the 
direction  of  the  dexter  of  the  shield,  from  east  to  west, 
from  the  old  world  to  the  new.  .  The  succeeding  artist 
who  painted  the  canvas  for  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  aware  we 
may  suppose  of  the  original  intention  of  the  design,  and 
thinking  that  the  emblem  was  not  sufficiently  under- 
stood, endeavors  to  make  it  more  clear,  by  boldly  paint- 
ing upon  the  western  continent  of  the  demi-globe  the 
word  America,  and  draws  the  eagle,  instead  of  standing 
upon  the  globe,  as  hovering  over  it  in  actual  flight  to  the 
west. 

♦  Preble,  History  of  the  Flag,  Albany,  1874,  p.  4TO. 
tLossing  in  Harper's  Monthly,  v.  13,  p.  178. 
6 


34  Correct  Arms  of  the 

Massachusetts  in  the  midst  of  the  revolution,  in  1775, 
adopted  the  motto  of  her  Arms  from  a  couplet  of  Alger- 
non Sydney.  It  would  not  be  surprising  that  New  York 
should  have  been  inspired  in  a  similar  manner  by  such 
memorable  verses  from  Bishop  Berkeley.  We  know 
not  what  further  revelations  are  yet  in  store  for  us  from 
other  sources  regarding  the  early  history  of  this  ensign 
of  our  commonwealth.  We  know  however  that  in  1776, 
Gov.  Pownall  had  published  in  London  his  folio  vohime 
on  the  geography  of  the  Colonies.*  In  this  work  he 
gives  the  greatest  prominence  to  the  position  of  New 
York,  as  constituting  the  line  of  division  between  all 
the  other  colonies,  owing  to  the  marvelous  "  chasm  "  as 
he  calls  it  of  the  Hudson  river,  by  means  of  which  com- 
merce easily  reaches  the  lakes.  And  in  the  same  year 
Adam  Smith,  discussing  the  possible  future  of  the  Brit- 
ish empire,  had  applied  by  anticipation  to  the  colonies 
the  phrase  "  the  seat  of  the  empire. ''f  With  the  writ- 
ings of  both  these  men,  Washington  must  have  been 
well  acquainted  ;  and  hence  when  in  1784  in  responding 
in  New  York  city  to  an  address  of  the  Common  Council, 
he  applied  to  New  York  the  phrase  "  your  State  (at  pres- 
ent the  Seat  of  the  Empire),"  he  was  adopting  language 
expressive  of  a  thought,  already  current  in  America  for 
many  years;  a  thought  suggested  first  to  the  inventors 
of  the  Arms  from  the  marvelous  facts  of  nature,  then 
from  the  writings  of  these  English  authors,  and  finally 
by  them  set  forth  to  all  men  on  the  Arms  themselves.:}; 

*Pownall,T.  A  topographical  description    .    .    .      of  the  middle  Colo- 
nies of  America.    Lond.  1776.  fo. 

t  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  IV,  Chap.  7,  p  59. 
>  t  New  York  City:  Addresses  to  Washington  and  his  Answers.    N.  Y.* 
1876,  80. 


State  of  New  York.  35 

The  clioice  of  Liberty  and  Justice  as  supporters  of  the 
shield,  may  have  been  suggested  to  our  committee,  from 
their  remembering  that  in  the  Congress  of  1776,  on  tlie 
tenth  of  August  these  emblematic  figures  had  been  sug- 
gested as  the  supporters  by  the  first  committee  appointed 
to  devise  Arms  for  the  United  States,  a  committee  of 
the  most  distinguished  character  possible,  John  Adams, 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  only 
abandoned  on  account  of  the  whole  device  as  proposed 
for  a  seal  with  obverse  and  reverse,  being  too  complicated. 
In  brief,  on  the  shield  of  our  Arms  is  expressed  not 
merely  a  sun  rising  upon  the  earth,  but  a  sun  rising  upon 
the  Hudson  river,  the  great  geographical  feature  of  the 
State :  while  the  crest  is  not  merely  a  portion  of  a  globe 
but  represents  America,  and  the  eagle's  flight  expresses 
the  hope  of  other  poets  and  authors  than  Berkeley,  —  the 
belief  of  tens  of  thousands  of  that  day  of  the  coming 
glories  of   the  New  World.* 

The  Arms  such  as  we  have  now  described  them  con- 
tinued to  be  set  forth  on  seals  and  vignettes  of  books 
published  by  authority,  without  essential  change,  for  a 
period  of  forty  years.  Engravings  or  wood-cuts  of  them, 
appeared  on  the  title  pages  of  the  successive  editions  of 
the  laws  of  the  State,  which  were  published  by  Green- 
leaf  in  1798,  by  Webster  and  Skinner  in  1801,  by  South- 
wick  in  1813,  and  in  the  annual  volumes  of  the  session 
laws  from  1815  to  1819;  they  all  give  us  a   passable 

♦  Rev.  A.  Buniaby  In  his  Travels  In  North  America  published  in  Lond., 
1TT5,  writes  :  "An  idea,  stran);e  as  It  is  visionary,  has  entered  into  the  minds 
of  the  (leneraiity  of  manlvind,  that  empire  is  travelling  westward,  and  every 
one  Is  looking  forward  with  eager  and  impatient  expectation  to  that  des- 
tined moment  when  America  Is  to  give  law  to  the  rest  of  the  world."    p.  155. 


36  Correct  Arms  of  the 

idea  of  what  was  the  original  device.  Gradually  after 
that  date  changes  came  on  ;  at  first  one  only  of  the  fig- 
ures or  supporters  appears  seated ;  but  after  a  while  both 
of  the  figures  were  drawn  seated,  or  one  of  them  dis- 
appears entirely  ;  besides  many  other  changes  perhaps  as 
serious,  and  without  any  apparent  authority  of  law.  To 
these  changes  we  shall  soon  refer  more  particularly. 

These  changes  originated  in  the  substitution  in  these 
vignettes  of  the  title  pages  of  the  session  laws  and  of 
other  publications  of  the  State,  of  the  pictures  found 
upon  the  seals  of  the  State  in  place  of  the  pictures  of  the 
Arms  of  the  State.  The  new  dies  for  the  seals  formed  a 
sufficiently  graceful  picture  for  a  vignette.  When  the 
casts  or  blocks  used  in  printing  were  worn  out  by  use, 
these  pictures  on  the  dies  of  the  new  seals  were  allowed 
to  take  the  place  of  the  Arms.  From  time  to  time,  as 
new  cuts  in  wood  or  in  type  metal  were  needed,  the 
varying  tastes  of  artists  and  engravers  facilitated  farther 
changes,  and  occasioned  still  wider  departures  from  the 
original  Arms.  The  genuine  Arms  having  once  com- 
menced to  be  disregarded  as  the  unvarying  symbol  of 
the  dignity  and  sovereign  authority  of  the  State,  and 
not  being  in  request  except  for  occasional  decoration  and 
ornament,  the  pictures  upon  the  seals  were  supposed  to 
answer  equally  as  well,  and  soon  the  time  came  when 
they  were  all  that  could  be  appealed  to  when  any  one 
was  curious  to  see  or  asked  to  obtain  a  representation  of 
the  State  Arms. 

Thenceforward  seals,  vignettes  and  pictures  of  all 
kinds,  made  of  every  sort  of  pattern  for  the  public  offices, 
have  passed  in  the  common  estimation  as  tokens  of  the 


State  of  New  York.  87 

State  Arms :  they  have  been  of  every  de«^ee  of  com- 
pleteness and  exactness  as  res^ards  the  shield,  crest  and 
supporters.  The  only  thing  which  is  uniformly  repeated 
upon  every  seal  that  I  have  observed  except  one,  is  the 
word  Excelsior,  which  word  with  the  ideal  aspirations 
that  it  suggests,  is  certainly  well  retained,  as  conveying 
a  double  meaning  of  material  and  moral  elevation.* 

In  the  changes  in  these  representations,  whether  re- 
garded as  Arms  or  seals,  there  are  some  which  are  especi- 
ally worthy  of  notice,  though  we  shall  be  obliged  to  omit 
all  reference  to  many  of  them.  In  one  of  the  devices, 
instead  of  the  three  mountains,  the  shield  has  the  colors 
and  stripes  of  the  United  States;  another  divides  the 
shield  between  the  emblems  of  New  York  and  of  the 
United  States.  In  one  there  is  the  anachronism  of  in- 
troducing the  canal  as  an  emblem  of  New  York ;  and  in 
another  a  more  violent  anachronism,  a  steamboat  and  a 
railroad  with  a  locomotive  in  the  ornamentation  outside 
the  shield  for  Arms  devised  in  1778.  The  motto  Ex- 
celsior is  sometimes  thrust  within  the  shield.  One  of 
the  latest  devices  for  a  seal  for  one  of  the  public  offices, 
has  a  picture  of  a  castellated  and  barred  entrance  to  a 
prison,  and  the  only  trace  of  the  Arms  of  the  State  upon 
tlie  seal  is  the  inscription  as  if  upon  the  doorstep,  with  a 
certain  gjrim  humor,  of  the  motto.  Excelsior!  In  many 
of  the  current  pictures,  each  of  the  two  supporters  is  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  shield  to  the  one  for  wliich  they 
were  originally  designed.  Justice  is  seated  upon  some 
of  them,  and  both  Liberty  and  Justice  are  seated  upon 
others.     Liberty  upon  one  has  the  cap  of  Liberty  upon 

*  N.  Y.  Geoeal.  &  Biog.  Record,  1874.  p.  55. 


38  Correct  Arms  of  the 

her  head  with  the  word  "  Liberty  "  upon  the  cap ;  upon 
another  the  cap  has  disappeared,  both  from  the  staff 
and  from  the  head.  Upon  another  Liberty  is  seated  in 
a  posture  as  if  she  were  overcome  with  other  spirit  than 
the  spirit  of  liberty.  Upon  a  letter-head  used  in  the 
Executive  department  as  late  as  1859  and  perhaps  later, 
there  is  the  shield,  the  eagle  and  the  motto,  but  the  globe 
and  the  supporters  have  disappeared  ;  and  the  legitimate 
symbols  of  Liberty  and  Justice  have  their  places  sup- 
plied by  two  figures  symbolizing  Science  ani  Industry. 
The  engraved  letter-head  in  use  in  the  office  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  State  Library  has  no  unauthorized  addi- 
tions to  the  Arms,  but  rejects  the  crest  and  both  of  the 
supporters. 

When  by  a  movement  of  some  one  who  has  a  fair 
knowledge  of  what  are  the  Arms  of  the  State,  a  picture 
of  them,  most  of  it  correct,  has  been  made,  all  that  has 
been  gained  may  be  lost  in  the  next  picture  drawn. 
Thus  in  1849,  the  State  struck  a  gold  medal  in  honor  of 
Lt.-Col.  Bliss  for  gallantry  in  the  Mexican  war.  The 
picture  of  the  Arms  on  the  reverse  side  was  not  only 
most  attractive  and  graceful  but  in  almost  all  respects 
was  conformed  to  the  original  device.  And  yet  five 
years  later,  on  a  gold  medal  struck  by  the  State  in  honor 
of  Lt.  Hartstene's  services  in  the  Arctic  regions,  the  de- 
sign for  the  State  Arms  falls  back  upon  all  sorts  of 
liberties  and  eccentricities,  of  which,  recalling  what  I 
have  said  on  the  usual  presence  of  it,  the  absence  of 
the  motto  Excelsior  is  perhaps  as  noteworthy  as  any  of 
them. 

There  is  a  change,  much  to  be  regretted,  which  has 


State  of  New  Yoek.  39 

been  introduced,  upon  quite  a  number  of  the  semblances 
for  the  State  Arms,  that  tiie  eyes  of  Justice  are  not 
blindfolded,  the  scales  of  justice,  and  the  sword  have 
been  withdrawn  from  her  hands,  and  in  place  of  a  sword 
is  a  roll  of  parchment.  All  these  emblems  belonged  to 
the  original  picture  of  the  Justice  of  1778,  and  constitute 
a  part  of  the  mythological  emblems  to  signify  that  jus- 
tice is  an  avenger  of  evil  acting  with  impartiality.  In 
another  case,  the  avenging  sword  remains,  but  without 
the  balance  or  covering  to  the  eyes.  And  yet  the 
statue  of  mere  carved  wood  on  the  top  of  the  cupola  of 
the  old  capitol  from  1806  till  a  very  late  period,  had  been 
declaring,  by  the  presence  of  the  balance  evenly  sus- 
pended, and  of  the  sword,  what  were  the  requisite 
symbols  of  her  presence. 

Although  it  is  now  more  than  three  years  since  under 
the  law  of  1875.  the  copy  of  the  painting  of  the  St,  Paul's 
chapel  specimen  of  the  Arms  has  been  suspended  in  the 
State  Library,  yet  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  was  not  so 
widely  diffused,  but  that  the  drawings  which  served  for 
the  State  Arms  as  sculptured  in  stone  over  the  fire-places 
in  the  Assembly  Chamber,  of  the  New  Capitol,  have  both 
of  the  supporters  seated ;  the  eyes  of  Justice  are  not 
blindfolded,  the  figures  of  Liberty  and  Justice  are  each 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  shield ;  their  feet  are  not  clad 
with  sandals ;  and  the  two  ships  and  the  crown  are  not 
there.  There  are  other  departures  from  the  original, 
and  yet  the  picture  is  much  more  complete  than  has  been 
frequently  given  out  for  the  correct  Arms. 

In  respect  of  maintaining  correctly  the  Arms  of  New 
York,  the  military  department  of  the  State  has  made 


40  Correct  Arms  of  the 

more  prosjress  than  the  civil  departments.  The  paint- 
ing of  the  State  Arms  for  the  centennial  of  1876  has  ap- 
parently led  to  a  change  of  the  picture  of  the  Arms  of 
the  State  as  displayed  in  the  centre  of  the  regimental 
fla-?  of  the  N.  Y.  National  Guard.  In  1871  the  State 
arms  were  painted  on  bine  silk  on  regimental  flags  of 
twelve  feet  by  ten,  with  the  evident  intention  to  have  a 
complete  arms,  but  both  of  the  supporters  were  drawn 
sitting,  and  respectively  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
shield.  But  in  1878  upon  the  new  flag  of  white 
bunting,  both  of  the  supporters  are  drawn  standing 
as  is  proper,  and  justice  is  blindfolded,  with  the  bal- 
ance and  sword,  as  is  also  proper,  thongh  the  point  of 
the  sword  is  turned  downward  and  touches  the  ground. 
Upon  the  dexter  or  right  half  of  the  shield  are  to  be 
found  as  on  the  original  Arms,  water  (though  without 
ships),  mountains  (four  instead  of  three)  and  a  rising  sun. 
Upon  the  left  half  of  the  shield  are  quartered  emblems 
of  the  United  States ;  a  measure  doubtless  justified  on  the 
ground  that  since  the  adoption  of  the  State  arms  in 
1778  the  independent  State  of  New  York  had  formed  a 
new  Union  with  the  United  States  of  America;  and  is 
conformed  in  that  respect  to  the  usages  of  heraldry, 
(when  done  with  authority).  As  the  embroidery  is 
worked  through  and  through,  tJie  supporters  appear  on 
the  reverse  to  be  on  the  proper  side  of  the  shield. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  indicate  or  enlarge  upon  all  the 
variations,  between  the  original  Arms  and  modern  pic- 
tures of  them ;  but  there  is  one  symbol  wliich  has  disap- 
peared from  every  representation  of  the  State  Arms  that 
I  have  seen  of  the  last  ninety  years.     It  is  the  over- 


State  of  New  York.  41 

turned  rojal  crown  under  tlie  left  foot  of  liberty.  I  am  not 
aware  that  the  existence  of  this  most  significant  emblem 
has  ever  before  been  pointed  out  or  recognized  as  abso> 
lutely  belonging  to  the  State  Arms.*  It  has  disappeared 
from  all  the  pictures  of  the  State  arms,  and  from  all  the 
seals  of  the  iState,  if  it  was  ever  upon  any  of  the  latter. 
And  yet  this  crown  is  distinct^  shown  up(»n  all  the  three 
early  specimens  of  which  we  have  been  speaking.  Now, 
while  the  arms  of  many  of  the  States  symbolize  inde- 
pendence and  liberty',  our  own  State  stands  alone  in  de- 
claring by  this  position  of  a  crown  at  the  foot  of  liberty, 
a  distinct  abandonment  of  royal  and  monarchical  govern- 
ment, and  the  substitution  instead  thereof,  of  govern- 
ment by  the  people  and  for  the  people. 

l^y  some  accident  in  making  the  copy  of  the  St.  Paul's 
chapel  painting  for  the  State  Library,  the  crown  has  not 
been  observed  or  preserved  in  the  copy ;  nor  was  the 
sword  and  sceptre  under  the  crown  observed  and  copied. 
Or  if  observed,  they  may  have  been  omitted  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  not  an  essential  part  of  the  Arms, 
according  to  canons  of  heraldry. 

Without  referring  to  the  many  arguments,  which  will 
naturally  occur  to  your  minds,  against  distorting  and 
altering  the  emblems  on  the  State  Arms,  I  must  instead 
beg  yon  to  dwell  with  me  for  a  single  moment  on  the 
argument  against  such  changes  which  offers  itself  from 
a  consideration  of  the  remarkable  character  of  the  three 
eminent  men  who  proposed  the  device  for  the  Arms  in 
1778.  They  were  men  who,  we  know  from  their  history, 

*  Rev.  Mr.  Bettii  speaks  as  If  it  was  introduced  solely  by  a  fancy  of  the 
artist  who  painted  the  St.  Paul's  Chapel  specimen.  N.  T.  Oeneal.  Record. 
Ill,  p.  18. 

6 


42  Correct  Arms  of  the 

had.  deliberately  considered  all  the  consequences  that 
were  involved  for  themselves  and  the  people,  in  choosing 
the  emblems  which  they  set  forth  as  a  device  of  State 
Arms.  Lewis  Morris,  John  Jay  and  John  Sloss  Ho- 
bart :  —  the  first  a  descendant  of  a  commander  under 
Cromwell  and  during  the  Commonwealth,  and  a  signer 
of  the  declaration  of  Independence ;  the  second,  a  de- 
scendant of  a  French  family  seeking  refuge  here  from 
monarchical  persecution,  the  first  chief  justice  of  the 
United  States,  and  six  years  a  governor  of  the  State ; 
the  third,  a  Son  of  Liberty  of  1765,  a  judge  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  New  York,  a  circuit  Judge  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  United  States  Senator.  All  three  of  them, 
prime  leaders  among  their  fellow  citizens,  at  this  very 
time  were  suffering  from  the  devastation  and  wasting  of 
their  estates  by  the  British,  and  were  refugees  from  their 
homes.''^  The  enemy  was  at  their  doors.  They  were 
familiar  with  the  old  seal  of  the  province  which  down  to 
the  Revolution  had  upon  the  obverse  side  the  Royal 
arms  of  Great  Britain,  and  on  the  reverse  the  queen  or 
the  king  of  the  successive  reigns,  standing  and  receiving 
the  homage  of  two  crouching  Indians,  a  chief  and  a 
woman,  offering  gifts.f  The  Arms  of  the  colony,  from 
the  year  1686  had  retained  over  the  shield  and  sup- 
porters the  sole  symbol  of  the  royal  British  crown  as  a 
crest.  The  laws  of  the  colony  in  volumes  printed  in 
England  or  New  York  down  to  1752  bore  on  the  title 
page  a  vignette  of  the  complete  arras  of  Great   Britain. 

♦Jones's  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  1819,  vol.  H,  p.  48. 

t  The  Arms  previous  to  1664  are  described  in  the  MS.  folio  volume  An- 
nalium  Thesaurus,  Secretary  of  State's  office.  They  had  no  supporters.  An 
Impression  of  the  seal  having  them  may  be  found  in  Letters  MS.  1647-1663. 


State  of  New  York.  43 

Bat  in  1752  and  in  1762  the  folio  volume  editions  of 
these  laws  had  as  their  sole  vignette  the  arms  of  the 
colony.  The  same  seal  only  was  on  the  colonial  money  of 
1771.  In  thus  superseding  the  complete  British  arms  by 
the  «rms  of  the  province,  they  were  following  on  in  har- 
mony with  those  same  popular  impulses  which  had  led 
the  people  to  rush  out  from  the  King's  Arms  tavern, 
to  overthrow  the  King's  Statue  on  Bowling  Green,  and 
to  cause  its  lead  to  be  melted  into  bullets.  No  New 
York  Arms  had  as  yet  replaced  them  in  the  Province. 
The  sole  change  made  in  the  old  arms  was  to  place  the 
eagle  over  the  shield  instead  of  the  British  crown  for  a 
crest.  They  were  required  to  provide  a  complete  ap- 
propriate substitute,  to  make  all  things  new.  So  these 
three  men,  rejecting  with  calmness  all  tokens  of  subjec- 
tion, and  standing  upon  the  manhood  of  common  citi- 
zenship, with  no  spirit  of  .vengeance  that  with  spear  in 
hand  exclaims,  sic  semper  tyrannis,  devise  an  emblem- 
atic State  Arms,  which  announce  with  simplicity  and 
directness  a  state  to  be  maintained  under  popular  sov- 
ereignty, and  supported  by  liberty  and  justice  without 
the  aid  of  kingly  power.  The  people  of  to-day,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  facts,  will  certainly  not  be  indifferent 
wheu  they  reflect  that  a  device  of  arms,  originated  and 
cherished  by  these  leaders  through  such  a  crisis  of  our 
history,  is  liable  to  be  either  abandoned  or  disfigured,  and 
no  one  can  give  a  *'  reason  why." 

If  it  should  be  said  in  reference  to  one  feature  of  the 
Arms,  the  overturned  crown  under  the  foot  of  liberty, 
that  according  to  heraldic  rules  it  can  be  disregarded 
as  not  an  essential  feature,  yet,  remembering  that  it  was 


44  Correct  Arms  of  the 

placed  there  by  men  so  honorable  and  honored  in  our 
history,  should  we  not  be  jealous  to  retain  it?  We 
recall  also  that  George  Clinton,  of  whom  Hammond 
says  "  He  was  in  grain  and  principle  a  republican,"  in 
the  same  church  where  a  preceding  colonial  governor  had 
sat  in  his  pew  under  a  painting  of  the  British  Arms, 
had  for  many  years,  as  Governor  of  the  new  independent 
State,  sat  under  these  new  republican  Arms,  with  the 
approval  of  all  the  people ; —  and  can  we  with  easy  and 
careless  indifference  allow  ourselves  to  erase  or  efface  so 
expressive  a  portion  of  this  grand  and  beautiful  memorial 
of  the  birth  of  the  State  'i 

These  Arms  were  conceived  during  the  battle-year  of 
1777 :  they  were  formed  at  the  crisis  of  the  revolution. 
With  these  Arms  on  her  flag,  New  York  went  through 
the  war ;  they  were  displayed  at  the  great  surrender  of 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  It  cannot  be  possible  that  any 
of  the  emblems  upon  them,  of  such  historical  significance, 
will  be  allowed  to  disappear  without  any  one  knowing 
how  it  occurred  and  without  any  approving  voice  of  the 
people.  How  can  we  speak  of  having  no  blot  on  our 
escutcheon,  if  we  are  indifferent  as  to  what  that  escutcheon 
really  is,  and  if  we  do  not  cherish  the  symbol  of  the  em- 
pire State  with  reverence,  when  we  find  it  restored  to 
our  sight  ? 

When  we  consider  the  lofty  and  noble  significance  of 
the  symbols  devised  by  these  founders  of  the  State,  how 
paltry  and  trifling  are  mere  female  figures,  with  the  em- 
blems of  their  character,  the  cap  of  liberty,  the  scales, 
the  blindfold  and  the  sword  removed;  —  figures  seated 
and  inactive,  supporting  nothing  and  apathetic,  while 


Statk  of  New  York.  45 

onr  shield  with  its  rising  sun,  and  our  >notto,  Excelsior, 
speaks  of  aspirations  for  all  that  is  best,  to  be  sustained 
by  Liberty  and  Justice ! 

The  badges  and  ensigns  by  which  to  designate  and 
identify  a  people  are  a  species  of  object  teaching,  the  use 
of  which  comes  down  from  the  remotest  antiquity.  The 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel  were  each  shadowed  forth  by  a 
speciHc  emblem.  Each  one  of  the  six  nations  of  the 
Iroquois  was  known  by  one.  Onr  soldiers  Jcnow  what 
it  is  to  follow  or  stand  by  the  national  flag  in  battle : 
and  each  army  corps  of  our  civil  war  had  its  unchange- 
able and  easily  recognizable  badge. 

In  a  comparative  study  of  the  arms  and  seals  of  the 
States  of  the  whole  Union,  I  find  that  at  least  sixteen  of 
them  have  arms  and  seals  which  are  nearly  identical  with 
each  other,  with  the  exception  that  each  seal  has  the 
addition  of  an  inscription  or  legend,  bearing  the  name  of 
the  particular  department  using  the  arms  as  a  seal.  And 
in  Massachusetts,  as  in  New  York,  on  parade  or  in  service, 
the  State  flag  having  upon  it  the  Arms  of  the  State  is 
borne  along  in  company  with  the  national  colors.  But 
the  arms  of  several  of  the  States  appear  to  have  been 
subjected  to  various  fanciful  changes  like  our  own,  as  if 
m  the  view  of  those  who  make  fresh  copies,  there  was 
no  significance  or  authority  in  the  original  picture  or 
device.  The  arms  on  the  seal  of  the  State  of  CJonnecticut 
were  chanered  before  the  revolution  from  fifteen  vines  to 
three  with  no  apparent  authority.  The  constitution  of 
1818  declares  that  the  seal  shall  not  be  altered,  but 
neither  in  that  instrument  nor  in  any  law  is  the  seal  ascer- 
tained or  described.     In    1840,   the  secretary  of  State 


46  CoRtiKCT  Arms  of  the 

was  required  to  report  "  whether  any  legislative  enact- 
ment is  required  for  a  proper  description  of  the  seal : 
which  he  neglected  to  report  upon.*  In  Wisconsin  the 
State  has  no  arms,  eo  norame,  established  by  law,  except 
the  device  upon  the  great  seal,  which  was  devised  by  the 
Governor  and  Chief  Justice  in  1851  to  replace  the  two 
former  seals,  and  "  B'orward"  adopted  as  the  motto,  as 
a  free  translation  of  the  Excelsior  of  New  York.  And 
each  department  uses  this  as  a  coat  of  arms  with  such 
variations  as  the  fancy  of  the  engravers  suggests,  f  In 
Pennsylvania,  the  knowledge  of  the  correct  arms  and 
seal  was  found  in  1874  to  be  lost,  and  a  Commission 
including  the  Governor  was  appointed  "  to  correct  the 
arms  of  the  commonwealth  and  to  have  the  same  recorded 
in  the  archives."  This  commission  made  a  report  in  1875 
recommending  a  return  to  the  earliest  known  copy  of  the 
Arms  of  the  year  1779.  In  one  of  the  documents  accom- 
panying the  report  it  is  recommended  "that  a  stringent 
statute  be  adopted  requiring  adherence  to  the  arms  and 
prohibiting  any  tampering  with  them  or  so  called  SBsthetic 
improvement.     .     .     .";{: 

Whatever  are  the  merits  of  the  arms  which  have  been 
adopted  by  any  of  the  States,  there  are  none  of  them 
which  declare  by  so  significant  symbols,  that  the  State 
has  entered  upon  the  maintenance  of  a  republican  and 
democratic  form  of  government,  as  the  Arms  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  The  military  commissions  of  the  State 
begin,  "  The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York     .     .     . 

♦Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  vol.  I,  Art.  by  C.  J.  Hoadly. 

t  Wisconsin  State  Journal,  Deo.  1870. 

t  Penna.  Legislative  Documents,  1875,  No.  21.  vol.  TIT,  p  1113. 


State  op  New  York.  47 

reposing  special  trust  in  you    .    .    .    do  appoint  yon" 

that  is,  in  the  name  of  the  people,  instead  of  the  language 
of  a  colonial  commission,  which  was  in  the  name  of  the 
governor,  and  founded  on  his  trust  in  the  person  to  be 
appointed. 

If  this  position  which  I  have  maintained,  that  this 
State  has  a  definite  and  unchanged  coat  of  arms  for  more 
than  a  century  past  is  verified,  as  on  examination  I  think 
it  will  be,  then  it  would  seem  that  there  cannot  be  a 
doubt  what  the  decision  will  be,  when  the  history  and 
character  of  the  arms  are  appreciated. 

A  common  sentiment  will  be  stimulated  to  secure  the 
necessary  action  which  shall  prevent  the  arms  of  the 
State  from  being  confounded  with  the  seals  of  the  State : 
and  measures  will  be  adopted  so  that  it  shall  no  longer 
be  true  that  any  man  in  the  State  who  is  a  voter  may 
not  easily  know  and  be  familiar  with  the  symbols  by 
which  the  State  of  New  York  a  hundred  years  since 
decreed  to  make  herself  known  to  the  world. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  topic  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing is  deeply  interesting  to  thousands  in  this  State,  and  in 
other  States  also,  from  the  enumeration  which  I  have 
made  of  three  recent  calls  for  a  public  exhibition  of  our 
State  Arms,  two  at  Philadelphia  and  one  at  Mount  Ver- 
non ;  and  from  the  fact  that  three  times  successively,  in 
the  years  1875,  1878  and  1879,  the  legislature  has  made 
appropriations  of  sums  of  tnoney  for  correct  drawings  of 
the  Arms,  — its  members  thus  rewgnizing  the  importance 
of  the  subject.  It  is  evident  that  the  time  has  now 
come  to  give  effect  to  these  efforts,  and  that  to  prevent 
all  whimsical  or  negligent  treatment  of  the  Arms  in 


48  '  Correct  Arms  of  the 

drawings  by  artists  or  others,  which  might  either  destroy 
or  disfigure  their  significance,  the  legislature  might 
wisely  adopt  measures  to  reestablish  by  some  declaration 
the  character  of  the  old  arms  of  a  century  past,  as  not 
havins  been  ever  chanojed,  if  not  as  being  unchangeable. 

Among  the  measures  necessary  to  be  adopted  one 
would  be,  to  secure  that  a  correct  blazon  or  heraldic 
description  of  the  Arms  should  be  filed  in  the  Secretary 
of  State's  office,  and  embodied  in  a  special  act,  which 
should  recite  that  the  blazon  which  Gov.  Clinton  was 
directed  to  file  cannot  now  be  found  as  the  reason  ;  and 
another  that  a  steel  plate  should  be  ordered  to  be  en- 
graved and  preserved  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  or 
in  the  State  library  conformed  to  this  blazon.''^  And  far- 
ther to  secure  familiarity  with  the  device,  a  painting  of 
it  on  canvas  should  be  suspended  in  the  executive  cham- 
ber, and  copies  of  engravings  made  from  the  plate  should 
be  suspended  in  all  the  public  offices  of  the  capitol,  and 
sent  for  like  publicity  to  all  the  county  clerk-.  Copies 
should  be  furnished  on  application  to  cities  and  towns 
when  applied  for;  and  they  might  be  accompanied  with 
a  printed  certificate  from  the  Secretary  that  the  engrav- 
ing shows  the  true  Arms  of  the  State  as  preserved  in  his 
office. 

It  would  be  worthy  of  discussion  also,  whether  it  be 
not  possible  that  the  seals  of  the  public  offices,  at  least 
the  great  seal,  as  was  originally  intended,  should  ulti- 
mately bear  these  true  Arms,  each  seal  having  Its  legend 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  DeLancey  for  this  last  suggestion,  made  tome  in 
wrltinK  since  I  read  tiie  paper  to  tiie  Institute.  He  will  also  soon  pul)llsli  a 
paper  contaluiuK  his  own  more  scientiflo  statements  on  this  subject. 


State  of  Nkw  York.  49 

around  the  border,  of  the  particular  office  or  department 
using  it.  Questions  relating  to  title  to  property  may  be 
made  to  depend  u])on  the  impression  upon  a  document 
of  a  genuine,  well  known  and  incontestable  seal.  Before 
the  revolution,  the  royal  arms  were  impressed  upon  the 
pendant  seal  used  in  patents  and  grants.* 

The  result  of  such  measures  and  discussions  would  be  to 
restore  the  Arms  to  the  position  which  belongs  to  them.  If 
in  1806,  the  Arms  of  the  State  had  been  carved  and  placed 
solely  in  the  tympanum  of  the  portico  of  the  then  new 
Capitol,  as  it  was  intended  to  have  been  done  at  the  time 
when  it  was  built,  we  would  iiave  been  spared  much  of  the 
confusion  of  the  last  seventy  years.  Tlic  Arms,  besides 
being  placed  upon  seals,  flags,  military  commissions,  and 
medals  of  honor,  might  be  placed  upon  all  the  public 
buildings,  carved  in  stone  or  painted,  not  only  on  those 
of  the  State,  but  of  counties,  cities  and  towns ;  they 
should  wave  on  a  standard  jointly  with  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  over  the  Capitol  during  sessions  of  the 
lesislature,  and  wherever  it  was  natural  and  desirable  to 
impress  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  State  and  of  its  eminent  jurisdiction.  Every  citizen 
and  beholder  would  be  inspired  thereby  with  sentiments 
of  respect   and     of  patriotic  pride  in  the  Empire  State. 


•Addison  on  Contraota,  Art.  Seals,  Am.  Ed. 

7 


NOTE. 


On  page  42  the  Arms,  usually  called  the  Arms  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
are  referred  to  as  the  Arms  of  the  Colony  or  Province.  The  same  Arms  are 
Indeed  those  which  are  stamped  both  upon  the  paper  currency  of  the  Colony 
and  upon  the  editions  of  the  laws  of  the  Colony  for  more  than  a  score  of 
years  previous  to  the  Revolution.  But  the  change  of  name  from  '*  city  "  to 
"colony"  was  made  in  the  text  while  the  essay  was  passing  through  the 
press  without  comparing  it  with  the  context.  It  would  be,  however,  an 
investigation  of  much  interest  if  some  gentleman  would  find  time  to  make 
it,  to  discover  and  trace  the  history  of  the  origin  and  varied  uses  of  the 
Arms  of  the  CivUas  of  New  York  from  their  first  introduction  to  the  present 
time. 


i 


I 


^ 


^ 

-* 


^Oi 


U 


7 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


Jh' 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


m 


1l 


